Minneapolis Public Schools and educators union resumed talks for first time in two days—and broke them off 90 minutes later.

To continue reading this article and others for free, please sign up for our newsletter.

Sahan Journal publishes deep, reported news for and with immigrants and communities of color—the kind of stories you won’t find anywhere else.

Unlock our in-depth reporting by signing up for our free newsletter.

SIGN UP!

Processing…

Success! You're on the list.

Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Update: Wednesday, March 9, 2:51 p.m.

Mediation between Minneapolis educators and the district was scheduled to resume at 10:30 Wednesday morning, the first such meeting since talks broke off Monday evening.

But by Wednesday afternoon, both the union and district reported that the meeting was brief and unfruitful.

In an update posted to its website, Minneapolis Public Schools said it had expected mediation to last all day, and hoped to meet around the clock. But the Bureau of Mediation Services, the state agency mediating the talks, informed the district of a change of schedule. Mediation lasted for just 90 minutes this morning. 

Minnesota school workers push Legislature to solve ‘staffing crisis’ with $25-an-hour minimum wage.

‘We shouldn’t have to separate being Black from our profession’: A Minneapolis teacher weighs the cost of battling the white education hierarchy—and her own union.

Why don’t Minnesota schools ever seem to have enough money? We asked House education-committee chair Jim Davnie how we got here and how to fix it.

Talks are scheduled to resume Thursday with educational support professionals. “The mediator has not notified us of any meetings currently scheduled with our teachers,” the district wrote on its negotiations webpage. On the webpage, it also provided side-by-side comparisons of district and union proposals.

In a rally at the Capitol, Greta Callahan, the teacher chapter president of the union, blamed the district for the impasse.

“We showed up at the table at 10:30 today, and they said we have nothing for you,” Callahan said, drawing boos from the crowd of teachers.  “They keep forgetting who’s in control now. And it’s not them anymore.”

read all the latest strike updates

Minneapolis educators hit the picket line for the second day. “Stability on the Northside is a question of racial justice,” one striking teacher said.

Minneapolis teacher salaries have fallen behind pay in other big Minnesota districts, nonpartisan researcher says.

Striking Minneapolis educators rallied at the Capitol, called for education funding, and sang “Purple Rain.” Some non-unionized educators, and their students, joined them.

Strikeblog! All the latest news on the Minneapolis teacher strike: rallies, negotiations, and another day without classes